Wizards Before Wands
by serainemithidy
Summary: Hogwarts is a school where mostly the richest families go to. When Lily Evans, a middle-class muggle-born goes there and stands up to The Marauders, who practically own the school, what will happen? Slightly A/U, James/Lily. Based on Hana Yori Dango.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hey all. :) This is going to be a collab fic between me, Serena, and my friend, Baine, who'll be writing the second chapter. XD_

_This story is based on the JDrama; Hana Yori Dango.(Also known as Meteor Garden or Boys Before Flowers)  
_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, J.K. Rowling does, and I don't own the plotline, the makers of Hana Yori Dango do. Everything clear? Okay then. On with the fic!_

Lily Evans looked up at the huge castle that was Hogwarts and sighed as two students passed by, talking about their latest trip from Paris, both lugging behind them expensive-looking trunks. It was going to be the fifth year of her stay in Hogwarts, and in all honesty, she couldn't wait until the end of her 7th year.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a prestigious school, where mostly the extremely rich, pureblood families send their children. Sadly, Lily wasn't part of one of those families. Instead, she had been granted a scholarship after a lot of things her mother had to do. She never thought it necessary for her to go to Hogwarts, but her mother had insisted, and here she was, 5 years later, still not enjoying her stay in this elite private school.

"I didn't know you were still studying here, you little mudblood beggar."

Lily ignored the comment from the person, and continued walking along with the other students to the Great Hall. After all, after 5 years of relentless mocking, she'd at least have learned how to let them slide. Sure, it hurt the first few times, but why should care about what a bunch of arrogant jerks think about her?

More people had begun to gather in front of the doors of Great Hall, waiting for them to open. Lily walked towards the crowd, blocking out the sound of the people beginning to talk about her(as usual), and looked up at the doors, hoping that this fifth year would go by quietly.

The doors slowly began to creak open, and more people entered once the gap was relatively wider. People pushed past Lily and went in, before she finally struggled through the pushing crowd, and once she was in the hall, realized that everybody had stopped dead in their tracks, all eyes fixed on one spot in the room.

Right there, by the 4 hourglasses which showed the house points of each house, in the middle of all four, was a smaller hourglass, with black sand, each grain of sand falling, a seemingly never-ending stream of sand, with a small golden signature that read; _The Marauders_. And above the hourglass were letters forming a name…the name was familiar to Lily…A fourth year Hufflepuff…Alex Pesto.

Silence had taken over the room. Slowly, everyone turned to the boy with brown hair who was staring in wide-eyed horror at the hour glass.

"B-but…I…I…"

"Get him!"

Before the poor Hufflepuff could react and run away, the crowd lifted him up and began carrying him away from the Great Hall, to where the Marauders were during times like this. Lily stayed behind in the hall, watching sadly as the crowd carried the defenseless boy to utter humiliation.

"Um…excuse me?"

Lily turned around to face a girl who was looking at her with a look of confusion. Her hair was curled slightly, and her green eyes were wide as she asked; "What's…going on?"

"Are you new here?"

"Yeah…I just transferred schools. I'm Mia Ansen."

"Oh…I'm Lily. Lily Evans. Well…about what's going on. It's a bit…complicated."

"Complicated?"

"Yeah…You see, there are four students in this school who call themselves the Marauders. Their families are so ridiculously rich, that they've put so much money into helping this school. And their families are so powerful in the wizarding world, no one, not even the teachers have any say when the four of them do anything wrong."

"So…what was with the hourglass?"  
"Every time someone angers the Marauders…that hourglass appears right there. And the name above it is the person who's doomed. The people have to subject that person to bullying, mocking, all sorts of things to force him to drop out because of humiliation. And the Marauders made it a stupid thing to make the hourglass like some sort of challenge. That by the time the time stops, that person would be gone from Hogwarts. It's idiotic, I know they control when the sand stops anyway."

"Wow…what're their names?"

"Well…first off, there's Peter Pettigrew, who seems to enjoy the company of upper years or even older women. Then there's Sirius Black, a total playboy who's been known to change girlfriends so often it's hard to keep track of who he's dating at the moment. There's Remus Lupin…he's not actually as bad as the rest of the Marauders. He's quiet…and mysterious. And then there's the worst of all of them…James Potter. He has a horrible temper, and is considered the 'Leader' of the Marauders. I bet the hourglass was his idea. He's always the one that gets angry at people for the most stupid reasons. I suggest you avoid all of them, especially Potter."

"Oh…but where did everyone go?"

"Outside, by the lake, most probably. That's where the Marauders stay sometimes. I think we should go follow, I'll show you just who you have to avoid."

"O-Okay."

Mia reluctantly followed her as Lily led the way to the lake. They could already see the huge crowd gathered there, cheering and mocking. Lily and Mia made their way through the crowd, to see that in the middle was Alex, who was now staring in fear at the four who were in front of him.

"See, Mia. That's them. Those four over there. That's Pettigrew, the shortest one, Black's the one over there, with the sleek black hair, Lupin's the one light brown hair, who's staring off into space. And Potter's the one who has glasses, who doesn't look like he brushed his hair at all."

Everyone stopped talking and whispering or cheering once James took a step forward, facing the Hufflepuff with an indifferent look in his hazel eyes.

"I told you, you would regret talking about me like that."

"L-look, I'm sorry, okay!"

James took a step forward and grabbed the trembling Hufflepuff by his collar and lifted him up.

"Tell me, Pesto. If I hadn't been there to hear what you said, would you really be sorry?"

He dropped Alex on the ground and looked around the crowd. "What're you waiting for? Beat him to a pulp." And he walked away with the other three Marauders without another word.

The two girls watched with a mixture of horror and disgust as a bunch of guys picked up Alex and started punching and kicking him, one of them grabbed a bucket that was near a tree and filled it with water from the Black Lake, dropping all the water on the poor Hufflepuff.

"Let's go, Mia. I don't want to watch this anymore."

As they slowly walked closer to the castle, Mia ran to catch up with Lily. "What exactly did that boy do to James?"

"Two people in the crowd were talking about it…they were saying how during the summer, Alex was in Diagon Alley, buying his things and he was ranting to one of the people in the store about how Potter was a spoiled brat, and apparently, Potter was there to hear it."

They passed by the Great Hall, and saw a teacher gesture for Mia to go inside.

"Oh, that's right. I still have to get sorted. See you tomorrow, I guess, Lily." She waved and smiled before she entered the Great Hall. Lily sighed and walked towards the fields, staying as far away from the huge crowd gathered by the lake. She clenched her fists tightly, her anger burning up inside her.

"Idiots! They're all a bunch of idiots! What's so great about those Marauders anyway?! Beating up a person until they drop out of school, it's all a game to them! It makes me so mad! And the way all those students seemed excited to beat up that poor kid, it's all stupid! You hear me?! STUPID!"

---

Somewhere nearby, Remus Lupin was lying on the grass, a book covering his face. He took the book back in his hands and looked up when he heard a girl screaming. He sat up and frowned, looking around until he saw the source of the voice. A girl with red hair. She seemed pretty familiar, too. He watched her as she sighed and began to walk away. Odd girl.

---

Lily arrived in the Gryffindor common room. It was getting pretty late, but before she went to sleep, she decided to write a letter to her friend, Mimi.

_Dear Mimi,_

_Hey. Back at Hogwarts. A fourth year got his name on the Black Hourglass a while ago. It really makes me mad, that everyone's so stupid and just follows the orders if the Marauders. Honestly. I want to beat them up if I could, but I don't think that's the best thing to do right now…I don't want to get kicked out…it's so unfair. Anyway, see you during the Hogsmeade weekend, I guess. How is it over there?_

_Lily._

She finished writing the letter and hurried to the Owlery to give it to her owl, Hoot.

Lily and Mimi had been friends even before Lily entered Hogwarts. Mimi was the daughter of the current owner of the candy shop in Hogsmeade, and she studied in one the smaller, local schools near Hogsmeade.

When Hoot flew off with the letter, Lily watched it a bit before going back to the Common Room, seeing that more people had arrived, and went back up to the dorm, clenching her fists when she passed by the Marauders, who were sitting in the couch and armchairs by the fireplace.

---

**The Next Day**

"Lily! I got sorted into Gryffindor! I found out and went up here, but you were already sleeping, so I decided to wait until morning to tell you."

Lily opened her eyes sleepily to see Mia shaking her arm, telling her to wake up.

"Come on, let's have breakfast."

"Why are you so excited anyway?"

"I don't know, I woke up and I'm in a good mood, that's all! Come on."

Mia hurried off, leaving Lily to stare blankly for a while before deciding to get up and get dressed.

The Great Hall was already filled with people, and Lily took a seat in the Gryffindor table beside Mia, already hearing people talking about what happened last night.

"That Pesto kid…what happened to him?"

"He's dropping out today. Ran away crying after getting beaten up by the lake. I hear he's in the Headmaster's office right now."

Lily sighed and decided not to listen anymore. It's not as if knowing about what happened would help at all. Besides, it's not any different from what's been happening for five years now. Someone does something, Potter gets pissed off, kid gets beaten up or humiliated in some way, cries and drops out. A vicious cycle. Never in five years has anyone survived that bullying. Most dropped out after a day or two.

An owl dropped a package in front of Lily, causing her to jump slightly, staring at it in shock before opening it, revealing a package of pastries. After checking the tag, Lily found out her mom sent them after making them.

"Wow, it looks so good!" Mia looked at the food.

"Do you want some?"

"Sure!" she eagerly took a cupcake and grinned, before biting into it. "It's really good!"

"You think so?"

Mia nodded and smiled. "Thanks. Anyway. Hold on, I'll just-"

It all happened so fast. One second Mia was drinking from her cup of pumpkin juice, starting to stand up, and the next she tripped a bit. She had tried to stop the cup from falling…and she did. However, that obviously wasn't the reason the Hall had suddenly become dead silent. Everyone was looking at the source of the sound, and found out that she had spilled pumpkin juice…all over James Potter's robe and sweater.

"I…I'm sorry! I'll…I'll clean it for you!"

"Clean it?" James stared at her, an angry spark in his eyes. He took off his robe and his sweater, and threw it on the ground, and grabbed her arm. "Why would I need you to clean it in the first place?"

"I didn't mean to-"

"Now look. I'm cold." He turned to the other three Marauders before turning back to Mia.

"If I catch Pneumonia, what're you gonna do then? Clean my robes?"

"I…"

He tightened his grip and raised his voice. "I'm the future of the Wizarding World! You don't have any idea what could happen if-"

"S-Stop!"

All eyes had turned away from James and Mia, and had fixed on the person who dared to interrupt James Potter. Clearly, everyone was interested on who would be doomed next. Because no one, not in the five years he's been in Hogwarts, had ever dared to interrupt James while he was talking. No one.

Lily gulped and tried to keep her voice from shaking. The fact that everyone was watching her every move right now didn't exactly help either.

"P-please…stop."

James let go of Mia and took slow, silent steps towards the redhead, looking at her with the usual indifferent look in his eyes. He stopped when he came in front of her, looked at her from head to toe, and after what seemed like an eternity to Lily, he walked away without a word, followed a few seconds later by the other three.

Lily hadn't even realized she had held her breath. She looked around at everyone, who was staring at her with a 'you're-doomed' face. Not good.

_Oh no…what have I done?_

_---_

_A/N: That's it for now. :) Please review! :D  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Lily took a deep breath, and stepped into the Great Hall. Just as she'd expected, there it was. The object most feared by the students at Hogwarts: the Hourglass. What was worse, slowly spelling itself out letter by letter in flowing black script, was her name.

She walked slowly towards the Gryffindor table, taking deep breaths and trying not to look anyone in the eye. Unfortunately, all eyes were on _her_. She kept her gaze pointedly at her feet, but after a few moments she couldn't move. Literally.

"Hold it right there, Evans." She could feel her head being tilted upwards, and she could see who was hexing her. Marian Vale, with a smirk on her face and a wand in her hand, had put her under the Full Body Bind. Standing beside her were Nicole and Isabella Vale, her cousins.

"You were disrespectful to Messr. Potter yesterday, Evans." said Nicole, the apparent leader.

"That kind of behavior will _not_ be tolerated." added Isabella, her righthand.

"Well, don't you want to say something in your defense?" Marian asked, her smirk growing by the minute.

"Give her a moment, Marian." said Nicole. Marian obediently flicked her wand, and Lily felt the her nerves faintly tingling as the blood slowly circulated back around her body. She knew this wouldn't last long, and she was right. Within moments a trail of spiders were crawling up her left leg. She tried shaking them off, but they held fast. She attempted to pull one off, but it hurt more to take them away from her skin than to let them crawl all over it.

"Stupefy!" she yelled, just as an enormous scorpion arrived on her ankle. In vain she tried shaking them off again, but still they held on. "Ugh."

"Think that'll stop us, Evans? We know more spells than you, you stupid little _Mudblood!_" screamed Isabella, and with a flash of blue light her clothes started shredding themselves.

"Expelliarmus!" she yelled, and Isabella flew into a tapestry. Her clothes slowly stopped shredding themselves.

"You'll pay for that, Muggle!" screamed Nicole, and with a flash Lily was on her back. She could feel her head pounding, and warm blood trickled out of the wound across her torso. Though her vision was gradually blurring, she could see Nicole's face nearing hers. "You're defiling the school with your dirty blood. You're not even _worth_ wounding."

And with that, Nicole got up, siphoned the blood off the floor, and walked away, leaving Isabella and Marian to catch up. Lily slowly tried to get back up, but Marian turned around one last time and sent a hex full force at her head, and she fell back down again. She closed her eyes slowly, and the last thing she heard before she blacked out were the taunts and insults of every other student around her.

***

Lily woke up to the ice-cold feeling of having a ghost pass through her. She sat up and examined herself; How much damage did they do _this_ time? She still had the spiders and the large scorpion on her leg, and apparently the other students had mistake her for a compost heap; she was lying in a murky brown puddle, covered with all sorts of leftovers.

She grabbed a shard from a plate, just to make sure they hadn't done anything _too_ bad to her face. She started a bit; her hair was a bright pink. She checked the rest of her face, but nothing seemed broken, deformed, or out of place. The only defamation they'd done was to write the words "I'm so ugly a broken nose would make me prettier." across her nose and cheeks, which several moments later rearranged its letters to form another, just as insulting comment. Along with her hair, which was now a disgusting chrome.

"Ugh." she murmured quietly to herself. She siphoned off the liquid from her robes, picked off the leftovers one by one, and quietly spoke a spell her mother had taught her once, to make sure she didn't stink. However, the rest (hair, words, shredded clothes, spiders and scorpion), could not be removed. "Damn."

She stood up, examined her clothes one last time, and walked, shaking slightly, back to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Miss Evans. Where do you think you're going?" she heard the sharp voice of Professor Brint behind her. She turned around slowly.

"Back to the Gryffindor Tower, Professor." she said as politely as possible.

"Not before you catch up on all the lessons you missed today: while you were lying there in the Great Hall like a rag doll, the rest of your schoolmates had enough sense to actually get to class." This is what Lily hated about Professor Brint; he was on the Marauders' side.

"Yes, Professor." she managed after a short silence. She turned back slowly in the direction of the Tower.

"And detention for a week." She stopped in her tracks. A grimace was forming on her face, but she kept it faint.

"Yes, Professor." she said once more. "Anything else?" she asked, wanting to make sure he wouldn't interrupt her now-undignified walk back to her room.

"No, Miss Evans." Lily heard the Professor's footsteps fade away, but she could have sworn she'd heard just the faintest hint of "Mudblood." She rolled her eyes, and walked away.

***

"UNBELIEVABLE!" Lily bellowed into the cold night air. Several owls hooted back. "I hate, hate, _hate_ him! He only sides with them because they fill his pockets with Galleons! Stupid, _stupid_ money! The whole stupid _world's_ all about money, and _every_one everywhere is trying to get their hands on some, and that's why those four stuck-up pricks get whatever they want; because _they've_ got it! I _hate_ them!"

"Excuse me, could you please try and control your noise level?" came a voice from behind her. She slowly turned around, terrified. It was Remus Lupin, the quiet one. "And while you're at it, could you go find somewhere else to vent your frustration? This balcony's mine."

"Really? Does it have your--"

"Yes, actually. It does." he pointed to a gold plaque on one of the stone blocks. It read,

'Private Property of Messr. Remus John Lupin, as of 18th November 1973.' in gold engraving.

"...oh." he'd known what she was going to ask--

"But it was pretty obvious, anyway." he said quietly, closing the book he was holding. "So now that you know this is mine, could you please find another spot?"

"C-could you stop--"

"--doing this? No, not really. I mean, I won't; not unless you leave first." he smirked softly.

"Alright then." she gave an audible sigh. "Unbelievable." she muttered once more, and turned to leave.

***

"No! Please! Help! I--" John Markle's pleas were drowned in a gurgle of dark water, as James Potter repeatedly dunked the poor student's head in the Black Lake.

"She hasn't dropped out yet! Why hasn't she dropped out yet?!" James angrily asked, bringing Markle's head up and staring at it with an expression of pure rage on his face.

"I--I--" too late, James dunked his head in again.

"Don't you think maybe you're overreacting _just_ a bit?" came the voice of Sirius Black from behind James.

"I'm--not--over--re--acting!" growled James, dunking poor Markle's head in the lake with every syllable.

Sirius raised his eyebrow with a smirk.

"Just about every student we've given the hourglass to has dropped out within the first 16 hours! That's what makes it so horrifying to everyone!" James let go of Markle's head, but kept one foot on his back. "She's either stupid--"

"--or really really brave." put in Sirius, who took out his wand and was dunking Markle's head lightly from afar.

"She can't be brave! Girls can't be brave!" James said exasperatedly. "She's stupid, stupid, _stupid_!" And with the last _stupid_, he kicked Markle's butt with full force, sending him sloshing into the deeper portion of the lake. A faint gurgle came from the bubbles where his feet were seen last.

"You think he'll make it?" Sirius asked, slightly miffed that he couldn't keep dunking Markle's head with his wand.

"Oh, he always does." James replied with a wave of his hand. "Besides, I can always find another person to beat up."

"True, that." agreed Sirius, and together they trekked back to the Castle, leaving Markle paddling back to the shore.

***

Lily kept her head down as she walked towards the dungeons for her Potions class. She'd almost been late, seeing as someone had managed to steal her porcelain rooster.

"Hey, Evans!" she heard someone call. She didn't look up; they'd distract her and she'd get even _more_ detention. "_Look_ at me when I'm _talking_ to you, Evans!" her head was forced to look in the direction of the student. Pale-faced and smelling faintly of squid, John Markle stared at her through several damp locks of hair.

"What do you _want_, Ma--" A thick length of seaweed shot out from his robes and gagged her. Several more shot out and wrapped themselves around her torso. She tried to walk away, but predictably, more seaweed wrapped itself around her legs, and her shoulder collided with the floor. She grimaced in pain.

"I think you very well know what I want, Evans." he hissed into her ear. Her eyes widened in horror. He waved his wand, and she could feel herself being lifted up and pulled towards one of the dungeons. "Accio Aerentula!" he cried, and a small vial of cloudy blue liquid flew in from the Potions dungeon and into his hand.

"Mmph! Rrlmbph!" she tried, but it was of no use. The seaweed tasted revolting, and she could hardly breathe in its foul scent. She struggled, but the seaweed held her firm. She sighed in defeat.

"This," Markle said, "Is Aerentula. It's a very strong sedative; it'll numb everything, and dim your sight. So you won't have to worry about anything, little Mudblood girl." He unscrewed to vial and poured a few drops on her skin. Immediately the drops disappeared into her skin, and the area they'd landed on went numb. She shivered.

"Mmph! Mmrllmph! Nnlllbmrhph!" she tried again, but it just wasn't loud enough. It wasn't even loud. She tried to start squirming again, but in a few moments she couldn't feel her legs anymore. _Shit_. She thought.

"This won't hurt a bit. I promise."

Lily tried to struggle free as she watched, horrified as he started to tear off the buttons of her shirt. She tried to scream for help, but too late. Her voice was barely louder than whisper.

"Would you _please_ stop making such a racket?" came a voice from the other side of the room. "What, is it your hobby to go around following me and making loud, rude, interruptive noises wherever I go to have some peace and quiet?" Remus Lupin, holding yet another book, lazily got up from the chair and walked over to them.

"L-Lu-Lupin." stammered Markle, looking up from me and into Lupin's indifferent brown eyes. "i-I was j-just--"

"Yes, I know about the Hourglass. But please, tell James to try and pick spots that aren't already occupied. Alright Markle?" Lupin interrupted.

"Y-Yes, of course." said Markle timidly, and he left Lily lying on the floor while he scuttled off to find James.

"Oh, you still haven't gotten up? I knew Gryffindor's were sturdy, brave, and whatnot, but lying on a stone-cold dungeon floor is a bit too showy, don't you think? Even the Slytherin's get warm beds." he deftly took out his want, spoke an incantation, and the seaweed vanished. Lily was left huddled on the floor in a small heap of clothes, waiting for the tingling sensations to subside.

"Why--"

"The Ghost of Professor Winscoine."

"Ahm--"

"It's his birthday today, and they asked to use the tower of my balcony." He finished. _'Isn't it that the balcony is part of the tower..?'_ she thought.

"Th--Thank you." she stammered, but he had already gone back to the spot in the corner on the other side of the room.

***

The next day, Hoot dropped a package in front of Lily's breakfast. He nipped a few bites of waffle off her plate, and flew off.

She opened it to discover her favorite snack: an Ioniran sea spider. Like a crab but much larger, it tasted delicious. Many of her schoolmates liked this dish; indeed, several received it on a daily basis. But her family, being not so well off, must have gone to great pains to get this to her. In her mind, she thanked them.

She took it out of the wrapper and put it on her plate, ready to eat it. She made sure to savour it as much as possible; It as one of the few things she had that truly reminded her of home.

"And _what_," she heard a familiar snobby voice behind her say, "is _that_?" She didn't turn around in her seat, for fear of being hexed once she did. "Trying to be one of us, now are you, Evans?" James said sardonically. She said nothing, and had no wish to. Instead she stoically pushed the food around her plate, and pretended to ignore what she knew was pretty obvious: all eyes were on her once more.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Evans!" he said angrily, and quick as a whip her head turned; and as cold hazel met petrified green, she knew the worst was coming.

"What do you want, Potter?" she muttered softly.

"What do I want?" he chuckled to himself. "What I _want_, Evans, is for you to stop pretending you can actually ever fit in. This school is for talented, rich, smart Wizards, and you, unfortunately, fill none of those categories. So do yourself and everyone around you a huge favor, and just _leave_." And with that last word, James took her sea-spider, threw it on the golden floor, and crushed it underneath the heel of his shoe.

She didn't move. She didn't even look at it. She knew that if she did, she would probably burst in tears. Her parents' hard work... Petunia's quiet encouragement... all of it had disappeared with one move. In a flash, she was up.

"You think you're perfect, do you, Potter?"

"No, of course not." He smirked. "I know I am."

"You're nothing but a stupid, stuck-up pig, who's never worked for anything in his life, and doesn't know anything at all about hard work and true discipline. You're never going to get anywhere or anything at all without your precious money to hold you up, so don't be so full of it!"

And with 15 years' experience of Muggle school bullies and spats with Petunia, she jumped up and down, took careful aim, and punched him square in the jaw. She then took a deep breath, grabbed her lunchbox, and left.

James Potter was left astounded, clutching his jaw and looking at the steadily disappearing figure of the girl who had just humiliated him.

***


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Here you go. Enjoy. :)_

_Oh Gods. I wonder what will happen today…_

Lily opened her eyes and looked around the dormitory, which was strangely…empty. She shrugged it off and walked to the bathroom, quickly making sure that no new horrible change had been made to her face. Thankfully, everything seemed normal..ish.

She had just punched James Potter in the face…the one who ruled this entire school…surely he would have hired the other students to try and _murder_ her by now. The bad feeling in the pit of her stomach grew worse as she warily approached the Great Hall. It was still odd how all the students had already gone there, as she heard the voices growing louder and louder as she came closer, and finally entered.

A huge crowd of students stood by a wall, all whispering. Huh, that clearly wasn't normal. Something must be up. The question was if it was safe for her to approach the abnormally huge crowd.

She pushed past her way through the students, hearing the occasional "Urgh, how disgusting." Or "Filthy girl." Or even "I can't believe it. And I always thought she was an innocent little loser." That last one drew her attention.

Lily followed the eyes of the other students to the huge writing on the wall. There, in clear, block letters-was her name. Not only that, there were also words after it that said…

_Lily Evans is no longer a virgin._

Her jaw dropped open in a mixture of shock and anger as the words slowly changed into…

_She has also had multiple abortions._

Almost as if on cue, the three Vale cousins; Isabella, Marian and Nicole came up to her, a sneer on their faces.

"You're despicable you filthy mudblood!"

"Not only is the writing on the wall showing something horrible about you, but you even _dared_ to put your filthy hands on Messr. Potter! How gross!" It was almost as if everyone had nodded as to what Nicole had said.

"Just you wait, Evans. All we're waiting for is the word from Messr. Potter, and we'll make sure you're going to regret ever being so rude and disrespectful to him."

Lily had heard enough. She walked away from the Great Hall, her fists clenched tightly, her nails digging into her skin. Forgetting that she had been to told to stay away from it, she walked over to the balcony, and stared out at the school grounds, pounding her fist at the balcony railing.

"I can't believe it! The nerve of him! Just who does he think he IS?! I'M STILL AN INNOCENT VIRGIN, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

She breathed out a sigh of relief. Screaming had always helped her relieve anger. However, her eyes widened when she remembered Remus had told her not to go here. She quickly looked around, making sure he hadn't heard her outburst, and was relieved that she didn't see him anywhere. She turned back and watched a bird that was flying by the school grounds.

"Virgin, huh?"

A low chuckle came from behind her, and Lily looked to see Remus smirking at her with a slightly-raised eyebrow.

"D-don't laugh. It's…"

"It's none of my business." He walked forward and leaned against the railing. "Do you know the time difference between here and France?"

"Um…no."

"Hmm. Didn't think so." He shrugged and stared off, almost as if he had completely forgotten she was there.

"I…I'll be going to class now." He didn't seem to notice her, so she just quietly walked away and headed for her Transfiguration class.

---

As Lily carried her books and walked out of the Transfiguration classroom, students pushed her away before hurrying ahead.

"Bloody bastards." She muttered under her breath before walking out of the classroom, only to bump into two clearly-suspicious-looking Gryffindors. Both male.

"What do you two want?"

Without a word they grabbed both of her arms and dragged her away towards an empty classroom, ignoring her screaming, and finally dropped her on the floor.

"What was that for?!" she stood up and was about to turn and face the two, when she realized she was in front of the leader of the Marauders himself-James Potter.

"Potter. What are you doing?"

"Give up, already Evans."

"W-what?"

"I want you to admit defeat. Then I'll take back your Black Hourglass sentence. It'll go away. Like it never even existed."

"Why would I do that?"

He shook his head and smirked. He looked…almost _amused._

"What do you want, Evans? Gold? Jewels? Expensive food? A trip to Italy? Me?"

Lily looked up and couldn't help scoffing. "Why would I want _you,_ of all people, Potter?"

"Simple. I'm James Potter." He brushed his hand through his messy hair. " You can have everything you could ever want, Evans. And all you have to do…is admit that I've won."

"What's wrong, Evans? What's with the scowl? I bet you're ecstatic right now…Smile. You're happy aren't you?"

Lily clenched her fists tightly. To think that she was that kind of girl…

"Smile, I said!"

"You bloody idiot, how can I smile?! You're treating me like some pathetic girl that you can control with your money! Let me tell you right, now, _Potter. _I am not an average girl. I couldn't care less about all your stupid money! So if this is what you think of me, well think again! I'm not giving up, you hear me? I'm not going to let you win!"

And with that she turned around, glaring at the other two Gryffindors until they moved away from the door, allowing her to leave.

_That idiot. How can he expect me to smile in his presence?_

_---_

Oddly enough, the rest of the day seemed to go on just fine. Nothing major happened, just a couple more taunts, but that wasn't really new. It was strange…almost too good to be true. Lily couldn't help but feel a bit scared that something would happen once she fell asleep.

She shrugged it off. Not like anything worse can happen, right? She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. At least It was the weekend tomorrow. And that meant Hogsmeade. She could tell Mimi all about what happened.

***

"Wow. I always knew they were harsh, Lily…but wow. Good thing Remus was there when Markle tried to…you know."

Lily nodded and sighed. "Sometimes I think you have it easy, Mimi."

"Easy? Helping Dad out with the candy shop isn't exactly what I would call easy. The children are murder. So many have tried to steal something or other, and this week, at least 2 have succeeded. Not to mention that Honeydukes is selling so much more than us…"

"I'd switch places with you any day though. Small candy thieves are heaven compared to those people in Hogwarts. Especially the Vale cousins. And Potter." Lily took a big bite out of the custard cream Mimi's father decided to give her, while continuing to flip through the book. "France…France…here it is!"

"Hmm. Oh, wait. A customer."

Lily nodded and looked at one of the jars of candy, which showed what looked like squirming, slimy worms…or slugs. She couldn't help but wonder why anyone would want to eat something that looked like that. While she was pondering this, a voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Hey, it's you! The girl with the iron fists!"

Lily looked up to see Sirius in the candy shop.

"What are you doing here?" she stood up, alert.

For some reason, Sirius found this hilarious and went into a laughing fit.

"Relax, Evans. I'm not here to beat you up. I'm here to look at the candy. Honeydukes is too crowded sometimes."

"O-oh."

"I'll take some of these…bear things…."

"The Talking Gummies?" Mimi approached the jar and started to fill a small brown paper bag with them.

"Talking…"

"Oh. Uh. Yeah. They talk, they argue sometimes about which of them tastes best. Is this enough?"

"I've never seen any of those in Honeydukes."

"Oh…my Dad thought of them."

"Hmm. Alright then. What's your name?"

"M-Mimi Grisham."

"I'm Sirius Black. You're kind of cute."

"I think that's enough. Shouldn't you be going somewhere, Black?" Lily gave him a hard, stern look. No way was she letting him treat Mimi like one of those girls that barely last a week with him.

"You two are friends?"

"She's my best friend. And Black, I don't want you going near her, you understand? Your reputation speaks more than enough about you."

Sirius shrugged and smirked. "If you say so, Evans. Here's your payment. Keep the change." He gave Mimi a small wink before walking away, taking a bite of one of the bears, his eyes widening slightly when he heard a bunch of groans from the bag.

---

"Sorry about that Mimi…it's just, he's known to keep a girl for just a week or so. And the last thing I want to see is you getting hurt…"

"It's alright. I mean, I didn't even know what to say, he made me so nervous…ever since third year, when your Hogsmeade weekends started, he passed by a lot, sometimes he would come in with one of his friends, but never really bought anything. And he's just so handsome…"

"Oh come on. He's a stupid richboy, just like the rest of them at Hogwarts."

"I suppose…hey. Who's that?"

Lily turned to see Mia tapping on the glass of the window, gesturing for Lily to come out.

"I think she wants to talk to you outside."

"Yeah. I'll talk to you tomorrow, then. Bye!" Lily walked out of the store. "Um, hi Mia. I haven't see you in a while."

"Lily, I'm so sorry! When your name appeared on the hourglass…I was…afraid to talk to you. And now I feel so bad…"

Lily shrugged and smiled. "It's no problem. Besides, I wouldn't want it to be my fault if you got your name on it because of me."

"T-thank you."

"So, what have you been up to lately?"

"Just lessons, I suppose. But Lily, I really do feel bad about it. It's my fault you got your name on the hourglass..."

"It's not your fault. It was _my _choice to stand up for you."

Mia suddenly stopped walking and stared off, her eyes wide with fear. "A M-Marauder."

"What?" Lily turned around, if Potter saw Mia with her he might put her name on the hourglass. However, she saw the image of Remus Lupin, who was looking at the window of one of the bookshops.

"Oh…wait here, Mia, alright?"

She ran off to meet him, and saw him looking at the picture of one of the posters featured in the window of the bookstore, which was promoting a magazine.

"That girl…she looks familiar."

A faint smile formed on Remus' lips. "Does she? She's a model, and she used to go to Hogwarts. She graduated 2 years ago. Maybe you remember seeing her around?"

"Oh yeah! Celeste Moore…"

He nodded. "Yeah…"

"I've found the time difference between here and France."

"Hmm? Oh, right."

"2 hours. Around the time I spent looking for it."

"2 hours…alright."

"Well then, I guess I'll be-"

Before she could do anything else, she stopped because Remus had leaned in, awkwardly close. Lily felt her heart get caught in her throat as he slowly came closer and closer, his face only inches from hers, then he frowned a bit and wiped his finger at the side of her lip.

"You have some white stuff on your face. Powder, I think."

"W-wha-oh."

_The Custard Cream!_

She clenched her hands together, trying to stop her whole face from going red. "Um…uh. I should get going now. Bye!"

She quickly ran to Mia and led her by the hand, determined to get away from there as fast as possible, maybe then the embarrassment would die down a bit.

"Let's…walk around. We still have some time before we have to get back to Hogwarts anyway. But…are you sure you want to be seen with me?"

"Yes. I've decided, I don't want to be such a coward anymore! You're a great friend, standing up for me and all, I want to at least let you know that."

"Hmm. Let's check out Zonko's. I want to see if they have anything new."

***

After they noticed the number of Hogwarts students had decreased, the two of them decided to start heading back up towards the school. However, they were interrupted by the Vale cousins, who crossed their arms and blocked their path.

"You're horrible, Mudblood." Nicole put her hands on her hips and looked at Lily, then looked at Mia. "You know you're doomed. So why are you being such a horrible friend, condemning poor Mia here to the same fate?"

"What are you talking about, Vale?"

"Just look in the Great Hall, see for yourselves."

Lily, followed reluctantly by Mia, walked towards the Great Hall, Nicole, Marian and Isabella following them with almost matching smirks.

Mia stopped, her voice caught in her throat as she passed through the doors of the Great Hall. No…it couldn't be. Tears filled her eyes, and she was shaking with fear. Beside Lily's hourglass was an identical one, with only one difference; the name above it was spelling her own, in big, clear letters.

_Oh no. What have I done?_

Lily shook her head in disbelief. How did word even get here so fast?

Several people began to throw a variety of things at Mia, who was now on her knees, in utter shock and confusion, as shouts of "Slut!" and "Loser!" echoed through the hall. Someone conjured a spell which caused water to fall all over her. A lot of other spells were cast at her, some of which had been done to Lily before. Lily herself was about to stop them, when everyone quieted down as the Marauders(except for Remus, oddly enough) entered the Great Hall.

"What the hell is your problem Potter?! Mia's got nothing to do with this! She didn't do anything wrong! I'm the one you're angry at! Do your worst on me, but leave her alone."

"You're in no position to complain, Mudblood. You said you wouldn't let me win. Well, you see, I think you'll learn soon enough, Evans, that I _hate _losing. And your friend? Well, Evans, in this game, there aren't any rules, are there?"

Rage had overcome Lily at that moment, and she felt nothing but pure, raw hatred towards James who was standing in front of her, his usual, proud, irritating smirk on his face. How she wanted to wipe it off.

"What's wrong? Feel like giving up? Admit it. You've lost."

"Just give up, beggar!" a voice came from the crowd, and Lily looked up to see that he had thrown a water balloon, headed straight at her. She quickly grabbed her wand and blasted at it, however, the balloon had been filled with paint, and the contents had splattered…all over James.

Everyone stood still, no one dared move a muscle as James stared at himself, his uniform and shoes covered completely in paint.

"Look what you've done now!" Immediately the crowd was angry again. They began throwing things at Lily, ranging from paper balls to inkwells to chalk. She tried to break free from the crowd, but they had closed in on her, trapping her on all sides, the objects being thrown at her endless. Eventually a few resorted to a few hexes, sending spiders and other insects to begin following her, Lily tried to avoid them, but it wasn't so easy in the cramped space the crowd had given her. A spell was cast, which caused her to double back, only to be pushed back forward by the crowd. She fell on the floor, and the throwing of things continued, accompanied by merciless taunts.

James didn't know why, but as he watched the crowd continuously attack Lily, he felt…uneasy. Something just wasn't right with seeing her on the floor, being beaten by the crowd. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt the need to…do something.

"Stop it!"

Everyone immediately stopped, clearly puzzled as to why he had suddenly told them to stop. Why would they want him to stop…unless of course, he had something much worse planned. They practically held their breath while he walked closer to Lily and put his shoe up slightly, so that it was just slightly below her face."Lick it off."

"_What?_ Are you out of your mind?"

"Lick it off, and it's over. Everyone will stop bullying you, everything will go back to normal. That black hourglass will disappear. Yours and your friend's. Just lick it off." Something in his eyes was different. Why was he doing this? Wasn't he the one who said he hated losing, and that he wouldn't give up?

Lily looked at the shoe for a long time, then looked up, there, somewhere behind the crowd, was Mia, still in a state of shock. It was all her fault Mia got her name on the Hourglass…

Someone in the crowd couldn't contain his excitement. He broke the silence with a slow, slightly taunting cheer/chant-"Lick it off, lick it off." A few seconds later, the entire Hall was filled with the sound of the students, all of them urging her to just do it.

She tightened her fist, and closed her eyes. If it was only her, there was no way she would even consider doing this. But her friend…she needed to do something for Mia. She couldn't let her be forced to drop out. She sighed and clenched her teeth, opened her eyes and leaned forward. She had to swallow her pride, she had to…

The cheering grew louder the closer she got to the shoe, and it was slow and torturous as she stared at it for a while, and James was just looking down at her, his eyes showing their usual coldness and indifference…but something in his eyes was slightly different.

This was it. Lily swallowed hard and started to put out her tongue…

"You were wrong."

Lily stared wide-eyed at the entrance of the Great Hall, where Remus was standing, a book in his hand, with a small smile, as if he had no idea what was going on right now. The whole room was quiet again. He took a step forward and crouched down so that he was looking directly at Lily, with a crooked smile, which almost look like an amused smirk.

"The time difference is just 1 hour. Not 2."

"R-really? S…sorry."

James glared at Remus and shrugged, and started to walk off, leaving everyone else in the room confused.

Sirius put a hand on Remus' shoulder and grinned. "Way to ruin the fun, Moony. Anyway, let's go. And the rest of you," he looked at the crowd and raised an eyebrow. "What are you all waiting for? Show's over. Why don't you all go do something productive with your lives?" And with that everyone in the Hall began talking again, and started walking out. As if nothing had happened.

***  
Something wasn't right again. But then again, when was anything ever right nowadays at Hogwarts? Lily woke up on Sunday morning and looked up at the two girls who were talking nearby, and they smiled and greeted her good morning. There was no mocking tone, they were _genuinely _smiling.

On her way to the Great Hall, the people who passed by did the same. It was if these past few days they _weren't_ trying to get her to drop out. Almost as if they were friends.

She entered the Great Hall to see; first, that both Hourglasses were gone, and second; that the Vale Cousins were waving their wands at the words that were on the wall the day before, and were erasing them. Odd. As she sat down at her table, the three of them came closer and gave friendly smiles.

"Lily! Good morning, what are you having for breakfast?"

"…what?"

"Listen, Lily. About what happened yesterday and the days before…no hard feelings right? You know, honestly, we were so glad yesterday when Messr. Potter stopped those students! We were relieved."

"Weren't you three with 'those students?'"

Isabella, Marian and Nicole looked at each other and gave similar, simultaneous and obviously fake laughs.

"Don't be silly, Lily!"

"Why would we be with such horrid people?"

"I know, are you going to Celeste's party tonight?"

"What party?"

"Her homecoming party, in Hogsmeade! Come on, it'll be fun."

"But I have nothing to wear…"

"Don't worry about that. It's a very casual party, you can wear jeans or something if you want."

"Oh."

***  
The Marauders waited by Hogsmeade Station, sitting by the benches while other people were everywhere, everyone going to do their own business. Train stations were always busy, but for some strange reason, the Station was even more filled than usual.

"Well, this is taking a while. Was her train delayed or something?" Sirius wrapped an arm around the brunette beside him, who leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I don't know." Remus looked at the railway tracks, and wondered what was taking Celeste so long to arrive.

James leaned back on the bench, and sighed impatiently. He'd been edgy lately-really edgy. He glared at Sirius and Peter, who both had some girl clinging to their arm. What a bunch of sluts, they've only met them a while ago. But after all, there were few girls who couldn't be swayed easily by their money. That mudblood was a strange girl…

_Damn it Potter, stop thinking about her!_

"What are you thinking about, Prongs?" Sirius snapped his fingers in front of James' eyes and smirked.

"N-nothing."

"I bet you're thinking about a girl." Peter cocked his head to the side. "You are, aren't you?"

"Shut up! Why would I be thinking about that stupid redheaded beggar? She means nothing to me!"

Both Sirius and Peter bit their lips, but it couldn't hide their apparent amusement. "Tell me, Wormtail. Did we say anything about Lily Evans?"

"No. We didn't."

"I…You two are idiots." James crossed his arms and looked away.

"Celeste!"

The four of them looked towards the girl who had long brown hair which framed her face with her hazel-colored eyes as she came closer to them and hugged Remus first.

"I haven't seen the four of you in such a long time! How have you been? You've all grown so much." She smiled and hugged Sirius next.

"Same thing we can say to you, Celeste. We saw that billboard. Looks like you're successful with the modeling business." Sirius grinned.

"Hmm, I suppose you could say that."

"It was a bit revealing though." Remus muttered.

"Revealing? Moony, it isn't revealing." Peter said.

"What is it, Remus? Why are you worried about me? After all, other models usually wear that kind of thing."

"But Celeste…you aren't like those cheap models."

She laughed a bit and smiled. "You haven't changed a bit. Always looking out for me, like an older brother."

"…Older brother?"

***  
_You can do this…no big deal. _

Lily stood nervously in front of the huge gate, with a floating banner near the front door that read; "Welcome Home Celeste!" in neat, fancy script.

Something just didn't feel right about her wearing something so casual. After all, this party was in a huge mansion, and it looked really classy too. It seemed a bit…strange if it was casual. She took hesitant steps towards the door, her hands in the pockets of her jeans, and entered…seeing everyone else in expensive looking suits, dresses and gowns.

Definitely not what you'd call a casual party.

_A/N: There. Done. Yay. XD Please review! :D_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Sorry for such a lag in updates. Baine doesn't have much access to the internet. This is SeMi, with a chapter I wrote. I'm very sorry, but here. After many, many months of a struggle with Writer's block...I present Chapter 4! Hope you like it. :) Sorry for any typos, if you notice any...please point them out. It would be much appreciated._

_///  
_

_Why is it I always feel as if everyone's staring at me for something that isn't even that wrong?_

Once again, it seemed, several people were staring at Lily Evans as she slowly stepped forward into the mass of people who were attending the party. Big surprise, they were also mumbling. It took a lot of effort for the redhead to stop herself from rolling her eyes as the Vale Cousins came up to her, dressed in needlessly extravagant gowns and hair-sprayed hair.

"Lily! So glad you could make it…although your choice in outfits is a bit…erm. Eccentric."

"You told me this was a casual party."

For some strange reason, the three of them found this hilarious, and they burst into almost spiteful laughter before Nicole pat Lily on the back.

"Aw, Lily…we were obviously joking. Did you not get it?"

Marian crossed her arms and smirked. "Come on, why would Celeste Moore throw a casual party? Of course it'd be formal!"

And with that they walked away, laughing hard as if they thought of the funniest joke. Lily couldn't help but scoff and shake her head as she watched them walk away.

_I hate them. Annoying, giggly, mean Marauder Fangirls._

The redhead walked over to the buffet table, trying to calm herself. Lily didn't even notice that she was piling too much food in her plate from her blind rage, but shrugged it off and went off to find a table to eat in. There was one which was fairly apart from the crowd, but still had enough view of the room to see if anything big was happening.

"The Marauders!"

Screams filled the room as a path in the center was cleared for James, Sirius and Peter(Remus seemed to be missing). The arrogant smirk on Potter's face as he felt the praise and adoration from the people around him drove Lily even angrier, stuffing her fork in her mouth with a ridiculously large amount of food.

"You're a strange girl. Most girls I see usually just eat a salad. I'm guessing you're not the kind of girl who diets, huh?"

She looked up in surprise at the stranger smiling down at her, her eyes followed him as he sat down in the chair beside hers.

"It's refreshing actually. You're also wearing something…unusual for this kind of party."

"So what? What's wrong with being unusual?!"

"…Nothing, actually. I like it. You're pretty cute too. I guess you just give off the vibe…that you're a special kind of girl."

The compliment caught her off-guard, and she looked away and crossed her arms. "Hmph."

"Yes, Lily is a _very _special kind of girl."

That annoying, whiny, high-pitched voice followed by a set of giggles was unmistakable. It only meant one thing-the Vale Cousins.

The stranger looked up at them and frowned. "What do you mean?"

A coy smile appeared on Marian's lips as she leaned in closer, seeming to make her voice softer, but was clear enough for Lily to hear every syllable.

"Every other guy she's slept with would agree that's she's special."

His eyes widened in shock and he turned to Lily, clear disappointment written all over his face as he shook his head and walked away. And then the realization came to her.

"You three wrote that on the wall in the Great Hall!"

They burst into another set of giggles and waved their hands as if it was no big deal.

"Of course we did! Silly girl, that took you a while to discover that."

"Why? What the hell did I ever do-"

Another set of screams and cries came from the crowd, and Lily looked around to see the cause of all the commotion. The beauty of the girl who just came in was unmistakable-you just had to stop and stare. Then Lily noticed who was beside her, his arm locked with hers-Remus Lupin.

The sight of them together; looking so perfect for each other…was enough to shatter the poor girl's heart.

"See that, Mudblood? Remus has a girl. Celeste Moore, who's a million times prettier, better, and more worth him than you ever will be. We hate how you dream about being with him, and how you try to look all cute. It's sickening! So why don't you just drop out of Hogwarts and do us all a _huge _favor!"

After saying the word "favor" all three cousins picked up a goblet of water and spilled it on poor Lily, who was too shocked from everything that just happened to react properly.

Isabella's grin of triumph widened when she saw that Lily was just staring blankly at nothing.

"What's the matter? Aren't you always so feisty and strong? Why aren't you saying anything? Aren't you going to bounce around and punch us too?"

---Meanwhile---

James Potter was bored. What else was new? Sure, entering Celeste's house and hearing the uproar of all the girls was fun…at first. But now he was just sitting by an armchair, looking around for something. Anything to do.

A flash of red hair a bit away from the crowd caught his attention.

Hmm. Red hair…for some reason he thought of…

_Oh, snap out of it Potter! She means nothing to you. NOTHING._

"Oh come on, Prongs? What's with that face? Cheer up, you're spoiling the mood!" Sirius snapped his fingers in front of James' eyes, successfully snapping (no pun intended) him out of his thoughts.

"…I'm bored."

"Oh, you're hopeless. Where's Wormtail?" Sirius hurried off and disappeared into the crowd.

James went back to his thoughts when he saw that flash of red hair again. Hold on…is that…

_It's Evans! What the hell is she doing here?_

He saw her stuffing food into her mouth, typical. Then some guy sat down beside her.

_That bloody flirt. Can't keep away from a guy for one second, can she?_

He watched as the Vale cousins(annoying gits, in his opinion) approached them, and as the guy walked away.

Screaming from the crowd distracted him and he looked up for a bit to see Remus and Celeste enter the room, then shrugged it off and continued to watch.

And then, to his surprise, the Vales poured water over Lily, and continued to sneer at her. For some unexplainable, unknown reason, James found himself standing up and start walking towards them.

---

"Looks like you're wet."

Lily looked up, and stared in wide-eyed surprise to see Remus standing by her, leaning forward with an amused look in his eyes.

"…You don't say."

"Here."

A white handkerchief was handed to her, and the redhead found herself hesitating to take it. It was so…unbelievable. Remus Lupin coming to help her out…but why?

"Remus, what's happening here?"

Celeste had appeared , causing everyone to pause in awe. She looked at the details, the empty goblets in the hands of the three Vales, the fact that Lily's hair was wet, and the outstretched hand of Remus holding the handkerchief and understood what happened.

"Hello, you three. Marian, Nicole, and Isabella Vale, was it? I've heard things about the three of you." An enigmatic smile played on her lips as she held up a bottle of champagne in her hand. "You have goblets ready, why don't you have the first sip of this?"

The cousins automatically started giggling in delight and looked at each other with smug faces. "Of course, we're honored, Cel!" Nicole gave a small little bow and stepped forward, her goblet at the ready.

Celeste had started shaking the bottle, and was trying to take the cork out. People watched in confusion at the scene. However, the confusion quickly turned into surprise when the cork came off, and a stream of champagne came right at the Vale cousins, causing them to back away and trip into the fountain. The crowd that had gathered quickly erupted into snickers of amusement.

"Oops. Sorry." Celeste bit her lip and grinned at the three as they struggled to stand up, hiding their faces in embarrassment. She turned to Lily and, to the redhead's surprise, gave a little wink as if to say; _you're welcome._

"You didn't have to be that mean." Remus commented with a small smirk on his face as the Vale cousins made their way out.

"I guess I overdid it just a tad, but there's nothing to do about that anymore, is there?" She turned to Lily and smiled, extending her hand. "You're Lily Evans, right? Remus here has told me a lot about you."

"H-he has?"

"Yeah. I'm Celeste Moore, by the way. Come on, I'll help you get you fixed up."

Lily took Celeste's hand in a dazed state, after all, Celeste Moore had just helped her. _The_ Celeste Moore. She looked at the girl with the brown hair in front of her, and couldn't help but be jealous of her beauty.

_No wonder Remus likes her…_

She sat down and looked around. Her eyes widened at the size of the room, it was bigger than her own house!

"Here, I hope this dress fits you."

She went into the bathroom and reluctantly put it on, her back to the mirror the entire time. It fit her comfortably enough, and with a nervous sigh, she turned around and faced the mirror to see what she looked like.

The dress was something Lily never would have imagined herself wearing. It was a velvet-y kind of black, with a green ribbon wrapped around the waist, a shade that went just right with her eyes. The length of the dress ended just at her knees, and the skirt had a bit of layered ruffles.

"Lily? Are you done? Does it not fit?"

"I'm done. H-hold on."

She opened the door and stepped out, afraid of what Celeste would say. She felt weird in this dress…

"You look beautiful. It's not wonder I think Remus has a thing for you."

"W-what? N-no way."

The brunette gave a small laugh and shook her head. "I'm not sure, exactly. He always seems so indifferent. But I suspect he does."

"He likes you!" Immediately, Lily realized what she had just said and looked down. "At least, I think he does. I'm sure he does."

"You think so?" Her voice trailed off with a hint of doubt. "Whatever you say. I'll fix your hair up."

///

"Hello, Messr. Potter."

James raised an eyebrow as he looked at the girl standing in front of him. His eyes went from her head to her feet, taking in every detail. She was fairly pretty, with ice-blue eyes and silver-blonde hair falling straight to her shoulders. Just another whore, he figured.

"What do you want?"

"I've heard many things about you." She gave him a coy smile and took a seat beside him on the couch. Her hand rested on his shoulder, stroking it ever so slowly. "My name is Valeri Alaire. Perhaps you've heard of my father's thriving business in Italy, France, Greece, Scotland and Germany, to name a few?"

"No. Nor am I interested."

"Your indifference hurts me, Messr. Potter. Your mother told me you were more of a gentleman."

"My mother made you take to me? I'm even less interested. Go away."

"You're so cold…maybe you just need someone to warm that heart of yours?" Her hand slid down his arm to reach for his hand, and she gasped when he roughly grabbed her wrist and stared at her with glaring hazel eyes.

"I'm. Not. Interested. When I let go of your wrist, I want you to get away from me. Whatever my Mom paid you to try and get me, it's not worth the trouble of what I'll put you through. Understand?"

"Y-Yes. Sorry." The poor blonde whimpered slightly in fear as he let go of her wrist, and she walked away as fast as she could in her designer heels.

He hated those girls his mother tried to set him up with. They were nothing but pretty, glossy sluts that were in it for the money. He sighed in exasperation as he ran his fingers through his hair, making sure it didn't get too neat.

His eyes wandered to the door when he saw two girls come into the room. One was obviously Celeste Moore, but the other figure was obscured by a group of people. He stood up as he saw a hint of red hair, and he went past the crowd. He hated to admit it, but he, James Potter, was stunned.

There was Lily Evans, with her usually slightly messy hair fixed into ringlets and slightly swept back. Her dress had a green ribbon which highlighted her eyes(which he had never noticed were so piercingly green.)

///

_Why are all eyes on me…again._

Lily walked into the room, trying to balance her weight on the heels she had been given. People were all looking at her…it was uncomfortable. She turned to Celeste, who gave her a reassuring smile and beckoned her to continue forward.

Mutters were going around the crowd, and Lily couldn't tell what they were saying.

She scanned the crowd and her eyes rested on Remus, who was sitting in a nearby armchair, a small smile of approval on his face as he stood up and walked towards her.

"You look cute."

Her cheeks went hot as she smiled at him, twiddling her fingers slightly from the nervous feeling in her stomach. It felt like they were just standing there for such a long time, smiling.

///

James clenched his fist when he saw Remus walk over to her. What the hell, since when did HE ever get an interest in the girl. Then, for some reason he couldn't quite understand, a seething rage overcame him when she saw the embarrassed smile she returned to him.

_How…dare…they._

Immediately, he remembered the words she had practically yelled at him not too long ago…

"_You bloody idiot, how can I smile?!"_

He got to his feet and walked over to the two of them, causing the two to look away from each other and to turn to him.

"Remus. Who gave you permission to talk to her? I gave her the hourglass!"

"Which, if you remember, James, you already took back."

"Why you-"

Celeste quickly stepped forward to intervene before things got messy. "Hey, let's not be rash here. James, I think you're overreacting. Don't you think Lily looks cute too?"

The crowd was silent now, waiting in fear for what would happen next. Celeste had just interrupted James…they had someone else do it before-the very girl who was standing right beside her, and they all knew that didn't end well.

"…Even though you're Celeste...I can't forgive you for talking to me like that. How dare you interrupt me." He took some steps towards her.

All eyes fell on Remus as he stepped protectively in front of the brunette.

"Well, _Potter_, I'm afraid _I_ can't forgive _you_ for talking to her that way."

Everyone stepped back in surprise as James' fist came at Remus, causing him to fall back, holding his jaw here he had just gotten hit.

///

James was heading towards him for another hit, and this time, Lily knew it was coming.

"No, stop!"

She attempted to push him out of the way, but had forgotten that she was, in fact, wearing very thin heels, and she quickly lost her balance, falling on the ground…with James Potter on top of her.

And to everyone's surprise and to the redhead's horror…

His lips were right on hers.

"Way to go, Prongs." Sirius muttered with a small smirk on his face.

_A/N: Reviews are always appreciated. :)_


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